Ex-Republican aide charged in corruption case

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A one-time aide to former House
Republican Leader Tom DeLay of Texas has been charged with
conspiring with his lobbyist partner Jack Abramoff to defraud
Indian tribes of millions of dollars and to corruptly give
gifts to a member of Congress, prosecutors said.

The filing of the one-count charge in federal court against
Michael Scanlon, was contained in what is called a criminal
information, usually used in cases involving a plea agreement,
rather than in an indictment.

It was filed in federal court on Thursday and made public
on Friday.

According to the charge, Scanlon and Abramoff, once a
powerful Washington lobbyist, provided a stream of things of
value to a member of Congress, identified only as
“Representative No. 1,” from January 2000 through April of last
year.

The lawmaker and members of his staff received a lavish
golf trip to Scotland, tickets to sporting events and other
entertainment, regular meals and campaign contributions in
return for supporting legislation, according to the court
documents.

Rep. Bob Ney, a Republican from Ohio, said recently he had
received a subpoena as part of the U.S. Justice Department’s
investigation of Abramoff.

A spokesman for Ney said the lawmaker will fully cooperate
in the investigation. “He has not been told that he is the
target of any investigation and there would be no grounds to do
so. Mr. Scanlon’s being charged with lying to and cheating his
clients does not change that,” the spokesman said.

According to the seven-page court document, the
conspiracy’s purpose was for Scanlon and Abramoff “to enrich
themselves by obtaining substantial funds from their clients
through fraud and concealment and through obtaining benefits
for their clients through corrupt means.”

A Justice Department spokesman said a hearing had been
scheduled for Monday in federal court in Washington in
Scanlon’s case, but refused to give any details.

The documents described Scanlon’s dealings with “Lobbyist
A,” with whom he worked. Although the lobbyist was not
identified by name, a source close to the investigation said
that it was Abramoff.

Scanlon’s former boss, DeLay, faces conspiracy and money
laundering charges in Texas as part of a campaign finance
investigation. He resigned as majority leader in September when
he was indicted.

Abramoff has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in
Florida that he defrauded lenders in a casino cruise line deal.

The charges involving Scanlon said Abramoff solicited an
Indian tribe in Mississippi in 1995 as a client for lobbying
services on various issues.

Abramoff recommended that the tribe hire Scanlon’s company,
Capital Campaign Strategies, while concealing the fact that
Abramoff would get half of the profits from the tribe’s
payments to Scanlon, according to the court papers.

The tribe paid Scanlon’s firm $14.8 million from June 2001
through April 2004, while Scanlon concealed from the tribe that
50 percent of the profit, about $6.3 million, was kicked back
to Abramoff under their secret arrangement, according to the
papers.

The court documents detailed similar arrangements for
tribes in Louisiana, Michigan and Texas.